Old man winter is showing his true colours once again as a winter storm warning was issued for Edmonton and surrounding areas on Monday.
Early morning rain made for slick road conditions, with patchy freezing rain turning to snow by Monday afternoon. Temperatures are also expected to take a dive in the Capital Region over the next couple of days, which could make for more unfavourable road conditions.
Between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday, a total of 190 collisions were reported to EPS. There were six injury collisions, 23 hit-and-run collisions, and 161 property damage collisions.
Just before 10:30 a.m., the EPS warned of very slick road conditions in the city. On 23 Avenue between 119 Street and Magrath Road, police said there were about 40 vehicles stuck in the east and westbound lanes of the hill due to the slippery conditions.
“This is causing significant traffic delays in the area,” the EPS said.
Melanie Todyruik was stuck in the slippery situation along 23 Avenue for five hours on Monday.
“It was pretty treacherous. I noticed that there were already some buses that had stopped, were stuck on the hill and as I was coming down,” she explained.
“I tried to brake and I ended up pulling over in the left-hand lane. I decided I was going to try to get out and go back up the hill so I backed up, tried to maneuver to go right back up the hill but I started sliding down the hill, almost into another vehicle and then I ended up pulling over on the left-hand side.”
In an update just before 11:30 a.m, police said sand was applied to the stretch of 23 Avenue to try to create better traction for drivers. No injuries were reported, but the EPS said some vehicles were damaged.
The City of Edmonton said additional road crews were called in on Sunday to put down abrasive material ahead of Monday’s rain and snow. Crews also added salt to the roads to prevent ice from building up, the city said.
With deteriorating conditions expected overnight and into Tuesday’s morning commute, the city said road crews will be working across the city, including in emergent and priority areas, like bridge decks and hills.
Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi said he shares in the frustrations of those who have been less than satisfied with the state of city streets over the last several weeks.
“There are things that are not in the city’s control, particularly the amount of snow we’ve had this year and also the freeze/thaw cycles and the number of them we’ve had over the last two months, and fluctuations in temperatures,” he said Monday afternoon.
“This is no excuse. We’ve got to do better and I am absolutely committed to asking these questions as we update our snow and ice policy this year. We need to have a better response in place — how we deal with neighbourhood blading, how we deal with windrows, how we deal with arterial roads and collector roads and how we sand them and other materials that we need to use.
“This has not be at par with expectations of Edmontonians and understand that I share their frustration and we absolutely need to do better.”
The mayor stressed it’s not about the staff doing the work, it’s about the city policy.
“Our staff is working really, really hard — my hat’s off to all the people who are out there clearing our roads and neighbourhoods — it’s a tough job and they do the hard work. I think we need to revisit our policy. Our policy is not matching people’s expectations.”
Environment Canada’s weather statement said the area of freezing rain will move eastward toward the Saskatchewan border and expand north and south through the day. Expect icy conditions along area highways including highways 2, 16 and 43.
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Along with the freezing rain, the winter storm will bring snow later Monday afternoon, strong winds, blowing snow and a rapid drop in temperatures.
A strong northwest wind is expected to develop Monday afternoon with wind gusts up to 80 km/h which can cause poor visibility. Environment Canada said the strong winds will taper off overnight.
As of 7:41 a.m., Parkland County was reporting potentially dangerous driving conditions on all primary and secondary highways in the county.
Those highways include Highway 16, 16 A, 43, 44, 770 and 779. Motorists are asked to stay home unless travel is essential.
“We’ve got about an inch of ice and then on top of that it’s raining, so that’s adding another layer of ice. They do have crews out doing the best they can sanding but you won’t stay ahead of it,” Parkland County fire chief Brian Cornforth said.
“We’d really like people just to not travel today.”
Conforth said emergency crews witnessed collisions happening as they were responding to other collisions. Two of their own emergency vehicles were hit and damaged, taking one out of service.
“The road conditions are just treacherous — the worst I’ve seen in 30-plus years,” he said.
“These are some of the most extreme conditions we’ve seen. This ice is extremely hard even just to stand on when you go out to go to your car. That ought to be a signal to go back in the house, let the boss know that the fire chief said you can take a couple hours off today.”
Bus cancellations
Due to the poor road conditions, all Northern Gateway bus routes were cancelled.
Greater St. Albert Catholic Schools said all Legal Ward buses L1-L6, all Morinville Ward buses and all rural areas outside of the City of St. Albert including the Lancaster base buses were cancelled for the morning.
At 8:13 a.m., the City of Leduc said all of its transit services for both Leduc Transit and LATS are temporarily suspended due to poor road conditions.
The City of Edmonton said due to the current weather and road conditions, buses are experiencing delays.
As of 12:15 p.m. Elk Island Public Schools (EIPS) said its bus service was cancelled in all areas for Monday afternoon. The school district added families impacted will be contacted directly, however all EIPS schools will remain open and classes to continue as scheduled.
Wind and snowfall warnings were also in place for other parts of Alberta Monday. For the latest information on the weather watches and warnings, visit Environment Canada’s website.
For up to date road conditions, follow 511 Alberta.
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